"The importance of the calendar for the groups was that it enabled them (early religions) to place themselves in relation to various important events of the past, moving ahead of them, and so predict what was coming along behind."

We all emerged from the same cradle, whether by intelligent design or evolution or a combination of both. It is no accident that Earth's three major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arose from the middle-Eastern section of the globe, all early procurers of science through religion. They all celebrate the cycle of life correlated with the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and the Moon's around the Earth - through metaphors: their stories of creation, the birth of the light; and death, resurrection and ascension, and the processes in between. They all hold in common esoteric studies that parallel each other, based on the old testament – "In the beginning, God created…" these are mirrored in ancient studies of Pagans, which are unabashedly based on the natural cycles of life.Muhammad Migrated from Mecca to Medina 427 years ago, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Islamic days begin at sundown the day before the full day of their new year at Ramadan. Islamic years are, however based on a purely Lunar calendar, which creates a very changeable year compared to calendars based on the Earth's orbit. Muslims do recognize Jesus as one of the prophets of the Old Testament, which they revere along with the Qur'an.The Jewish calendar has four dates for new years, each for a different segment of their culture. Since September 29, 2008 we are in the Jewish year 5769. Their day begins at sundown and with a partial Lunar calendar their main new year is Rosh Hashana, the beginning of their 7th month, the festival of the sacred moon and feast of the trumpets. The Hebrew religion recognizes the prophets of the Old Testament, their link with Christianity. Jewish Passover coincides with the Christian Easter season.Fear comes from and creates separation. Disagreement arises in what we do with creation, and where it leads – control of a common language – and who's in control of unity. All throughout history these groups have been at constant odds each other and with secular groups, whose purpose it is to control nature (human and otherwise), all finding it difficult to keep separate from politics. Overlapping cycles make for strange bedfellows. Would that we uncover the unity within.Over time, the mystical and the scientific, originally joined and then separate, are now spiraling forward towards reunification. As Thomas Kuhn tells us, paradigms shift when those in control die off.Disambiguity, the process of resolving ambiguity was brought to bear in the case of the terms: BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini – In the Year of Our Lord), when part of the Christian calendar was changed to BCE (before the common era, or before the Christian era), and CE (common era) to remove calendric computations from segregation within Christianity, thus embracing a religiously neutral alternative. The labels refer to the time of Jesus of Nazareth, and the Gregorian calendric system, which lends the question: who controls the beginning? The shift from BC/AD to BCE/CE seems to have its roots in the universities in the 1960s and 1970s, and was formally implemented in the beginning of the 21st century when changes were made in text books.The western European Christian culture instituted the use of BC and AD to denote the beginning of the Christian epoch. Their ongoing argument was mainly concerned with how to demark the beginning of the year and the rules for determining Easter.Prior to A.D. (or C.E.) 325, Easter was celebrated on various days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That year, the Council of Nicaea, in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey) was convened by Emperor Constantine. This is thought to be the first ecumenical (meaning world-wide) council of the Christian Church, as it was called to create uniform Christian doctrine, which at that time reached the limits of the Roman Empire. During the Nicaean Council, the Easter Rule was instituted, which states that "Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full Moon on, or after the Vernal Equinox.Eventually, the Julian Calendar (used at the time) was untidy, and too long, causing the Vernal Equinox to drift backwards in the calendar year. This caused a considerable change in the holy days of Easter. Clearly, an adjustment was needed. A considerable length of time went on before that could be accomplished.Aloysius Lilius (c. 1510 – 1576) is said to be the creator of the Gregorian Calendar, through his manuscript entitled Compendiuem novae rationis restituendi kalendarium (Compendium of the New Plan for the Restitution of the Calendar). His plan designated the beginning of the epoch defined by the life of Christ (the issuance of the year 1); the beginning of the year; the beginning of the week; the beginning of the day (midnight, sunrise, noon, or sundown); and the grouping and naming of the months, the days of the week, and special days (such as leap year). His system aligned religious and economic cycles with recurring astronomic phenomena. The crater Lilius on the Moon was named after himThe reform to the calendar occurred six years after his death, when Lilius' brother Antonio presented his manuscript to Pope Gregory XIII. The manuscript then proceeded to the Church's reform commission, and after some modification, on February 24, 1582, a Papal Bull ordered Christians to use the new calendar. The Easter Rule was maintained. Since the ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21, Easter has since been celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. And so the date of Easter is, each year, always on a different date.Even before the Christian rule for Easter, humans have celebrated the vernal equinox and the return of spring as a time of renewal, consonant with the meaning of Easter. Besides the reference of the word "resurrection" to Christian theology and "…Jesus rising from the dead after his death and burial", Webster's Deluxe Unabridged Dictionary also offers, "a coming back into notice, practice, use, etc.' restoration or revival…"Symbology such as the Easter Basket dates back to pagan traditions and Oeastre, the Goddess of fertility, who was often depicted carrying a basket of eggs, symbolizing fecundity. In time, egg shaped candy has replaced eggs, and the holiday has become a commercial extravaganza for confectioners. The symbology of the rabbit denotes fertility, as rabbits reproduce in just 30 days.The tradition of consuming the ham on Easter comes from the habit of eating the last of the cured meats that were prepared and stored during the winter from slaughtered domesticated animals that could not survive the winter. The vernal equinox: the equal length of days and nights marked the seasonal change, gave them reason to celebrate, which usually coincided with the end of their winter meat supplies.As is quite often the case, the differences between Religious, spiritual, pagan and secular holidays seem blurred, and the principles underlying their meaning come through, as a possible symbol of the oneness of consciousness, and possibly a way to heal our differences. May this information bring you reasons to open your hearts to others during this season of hope.